New app to improve student referencing

To help students and researchers to improve their referencing and keep a consistent style, GlobalPAD at the Centre for Applied Linguistics has launched a new app - MasterCite.

With the app, students can learn three commonly used referencing systems: APA 6, MLA and Chicago 16th. MasterCite uses a colour-coded system to show where to position the author, publication, issue number and title, and where to use bold and italics in the reference. There's also an FAQs section for referencing which highlights the importance of avoiding plagiarism.

Daniel Dauber, who developed the app for our Centre for Applied Linguistics says:

"We designed this tool in response to requests from our students, who often find it hard to navigate their way through the different referencing systems.

With this app on their phone, students can focus on getting the content of their work right, without needing to reach for reference style guides or search online. Over time, users will start to learn the systems and feel more confident in how they use them.

We've even included a game within the app so you can test how good you are at recognising and using the different citation styles!"